BHCourier 060515 E-edition

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June 5, 2015

Nowhere To Roam THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES — The Courier congratulates the Beverly Hills High class of 2015. This year’s BHHS graduates donned their caps and gowns last Friday for their graduation on the front lawn of the high school. Photo by Steven Fazekas

8-week-old Alicia leads this week’s adoptable pets, courtesy of Freshpet. 4

Beverly Hills resident Will Foley took his copy of The Courier to the highest mountain in Malaysia. 5

Municipal League, Southwest HOA Join Metro Legal Fight By Laura Coleman Reports refuting the foundation for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to put a subway tunnel under Beverly Hills High School continue to pile up quicker than an L.A. fender-bender. Last Thursday, the Southwest Beverly Hills Homeowners Association and the Beverly Hills Municipal League joined the legal fight against Metro’s plan by filing a joint Amicus Brief to the California Court of Appeal in support of the Beverly Hills Unified School District’s lawsuit to require Metro to

redo its Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) before moving the Century City subway station off of Santa Monica Boulevard and under the City’s high school into Constellation Boulevard. The brief cited 11 studies that have disproved Metro’s primary rationale that earthquake faults made it necessary to route the subway to Constellation, where it will stop in JMB’s proposed City Center. In fact, there are more than 20 such reports according to Greenberg Glusker attorney Fred Fenster, (see ‘METRO’ page 19)

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MEGAMANSION — A view of 901 Strada Vecchia from the hills of Bel-Air. Photo by Maureen Levinson

LADBS Smacks Down 901 Strada Vecchia Appeal, Case Heads To Los Angeles City Attorney George Christy, Page 6 Ruta Lee, The Grand Duchess Of Hatdom, Was Birthday-Partied At The Bistro Garden At Coldwater. Her Gorgeous Smile Converts Communists To Capitalists

CLASSIFIEDS • • • • •

Announcements Real Estate Rentals Sales and More

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By Victoria Talbot A rush of celebration followed a vote in City Council to create a half-acre off-leash dog park on City-owned property in the Entertainment Business District on the southeast corner of Foothill Road and Alden Drive. But that was May 6, 2014, and since then, there is nothing to show for the effort. City work vehicles regularly pull in and out of the lot, staging and parking there. Apparently, the process

has been mired in delays and bureaucracy, prompting one resident to collect signatures and raise money for “Friends of Roxbury Dog Park,” in the hope of renewing consideration of a location at Roxbury Park. That effort ended last week in failure when the Recreation and Parks Commission voted 41 against a dog park at Roxbury Park – again. The meeting was a small (see ‘DOG PARK’ page 18)

Beverly Hills Elder: Fred Paulos, 90, Musician & Real Estate Mogul Part 38 in a series on Beverly Hills residents who have grown with the Centennial City

Judge awards former Beverly Hills parking enforcement officer Elisa Lopez $1 million in discrimination lawsuit against City. 11 •Real Estate •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor

Dog Park Delays Have Community Barking Mad

By Matt Lopez It's been nearly a year since the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety originally revoked construction permits at 901 Strada Vecchia in Bel-Air. Then, in April, LADBS inspectors cracked down with an order to remove all unapproved construction. On Tuesday, the LADBS commissioners decided that 901 Strada Vecchia's time is up. LADBS commissioners, by a unanimous 4-0 vote (commissioner Javier Nunez was not present), rebuffed an appeal by 901 Strada

Vecchia over the LADBS’ order to remove illegal construction. The commissioners found that the LADBS did not “err or abuse its discretion” in handing down the Order to Comply in April. The ruling came down after nearly two hours of testimony and public comment from both sides. Also denied by LADBS commissioners was a 60-day extension requested by attorneys for 901 Strada, LLC, the owner of the property, to allow extra time for the site to get into compliance. LADBS Inspection Bureau Chief Larry (see ‘901 STRADA VECCHIA’ page 10)

By Laura Coleman It’s been 76 years since burlesque dancer Rose La Rose came onstage at the Burbank Theatre in downtown L.A. to Oklahoma’s famous tune The Surrey With The Fringe On Top while Fred Paulos played his saxophone in the pit – but it’s one memory that still remains vivid for this week’s Beverly Hills Elder. Fred had just started the job at the club at 5th and Main – his first gig since becoming a union musician – when this woman came in for a rehearsal

Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie

THIS ISSUE

The Courier’s new mascot, Beverly Hills Bear, sits forlornly at the corner of Foothill Road and Alden Drive, which was promised as the site for a dog park more than a year ago. Courier photo by Christina S. Whalen

wearing a babooshka and pedal pushers...definitely not much of a looker. “She sees me, I’m all of 14 years old, and she winks!” Fred recounted. “I think, that broad has a lot of nerve! What does she think I am?” She was Rose La Rose from New York and when she came Fred Paulos

out to perform a tune from the new Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that was all the rage at the strip clubs and (see ‘FRED PAULOS’ page 22)

LADIES OF THE BLUE CARPET — Jaime Pressly, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Tracee Ellis Ross pose on the Blue Carpet during the 5th annual Critics Choice Television Awards 2015 at The Beverly Hilton. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.


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